USA Projects

In 1982, an apparition was seen in an abandoned Skid Row storefront in downtown Los Angeles.  The Grotto was constructed on the site of this apparition, Our Lady who Thirsted.  The walls, ceiling, and floors of The Grotto were made entirely of recycled beer cans.  Beer seeped down the walls and dripped from the ceiling into a well built to hold the holy beer.  The Grotto was open to all and welcomed all to refresh themselves.  The materials used to construct the original Grotto were eventually recycled.

Your financial donations are needed to construct The Grotto in a flexible and modular form that will allow it to travel and be exhibited within a wide range of venues.  It is also my desire to create a sanctuary that may grow and become inclusive of new stories, remembered faces and memories of lost lives.  The Grotto is meant to be a place of beauty, calm and restoration.  However, it is also a place filled with dark corners and bittersweet temptations.

As an artist, I work to expose my own vulnerabilities to create connections with each person who steps into my installations or performances.  I desire to create an open space, where the viewer may engage the experience of the installation from the perspective of their own life story.  I want to find that place of commonality inside us all that makes it possible to empathize with each other.

With your help, The Grotto’s journey will begin underground at Jancar Gallery in Los Angeles.  Your donations towards our goal will be used for the creation, construction and initial exhibition of the piece.  This will be a great beginning.  If by working together, we push this project to the next level, you would be supporting the travel and installation expenses to exhibit The Grotto at more venues.

In the past year, many of my films, performances and installations were featured in exhibitions and publications related to The Getty’s Pacific Standard Time initiative. I am known for art that is personal, social and political; producing both performance and installation art in public places and gallery work that is ephemeral.

I believe The Grotto can help illuminate our path and grow beyond my work as an artist and embody some part of everyone who supports and visits the installation.  This project cannot be realized without your generous donations.  Please consider a donation to The Grotto and join me on this journey.